The final Mass of the novendiales, which will also be in Saint Peter's Basilica, will have as the main celebrant the Protodeacon of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Dominique Mamberti, with the Papal Chapel group in attendance. Mamberti, who is French, will announce the new pope after his selection. He will be he second French Cardinal in a row to do this. In 2013, it was Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran who announced Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum. Habemus Papam! ("I announce to you news of great joy. We have a Pope!"). Cardinal Tauran died in 2018.
Based on previous reports, I posted that two Cardinals would not be in he upcoming Conclave, which is scheduled to begin Wednesday, 7 May. It is still true that two Cardinals eligible to vote will not participate. As previously noted, Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera, Archbishop Emeritus of Valencia, Spain will not be Rome due to poor health. But it appears that Cardinal Vinko Puljic of Sarajevo will join the Conclave. I had previously written that he would not.
It is Cardinal John Njue, Archbishop Emeritus of Nairobi, Kenya who, along with Cardinal Cañizares, will not come to Rome for the Conclave. Both Njue and Cañizares were created Cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI. Cañizares (who served as Prefect for the then-Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, was known in some Roman circles as "little Ratzinger") in the 2006 Consistory, Pope Benedict's first, and Njue in the Consitory of 2007. Despite the absence of two electors, this conclave will still be both the largest in terms of electors and the most international, the most catholic, in the Church's history. 133 electors from 71 countries. In the Sacred College, which includes Cardinals older than 80 who cannot participate in the Conclave, 94 countries are represented.
The Last Judgment, by Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel, Vatican City
In the Conclave there will be fifty-three European Cardinals: 19 from Italy, 6 from France, and 5 from Spain. Thirty-seven Cardinals from the Americas: 16 from North America (including 10 from the U.S.), 4 from Central America, and 17 from South America. There will be 3 Cardinals from Asia, 18 from Africa, and 4 from Oceania.
Thirty-three of the 133 electors are from 18 religious orders, including 5 Salesians, 4 Franciscans all from the Order of Friars Minor (there is a variety of Francican orders, of which the OFMs are the largest and, I believe, the oldest), Franciscans include Cardinal Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, who is considered papabile, 4 Jesuits, the order to which Pope Francis belonged, will also participate.
The morning of the day on which the Conclave begins, the Cardinals celebrate the votive Mass Pro Eligendo Romano Pontifice (Mass for the Election of the Roman Pontiff). The celebrant is the Dean of the Sacred College. In 2005, it was likely his homily at the Pro Eligendo Mass that sealed then-Cardinal Ratzinger's election as the 265th Successor of Saint Peter. At 91, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the current Deacon, will not be in the Conclave.
In the afternoon, the Cardinal electors proceed in a solemn procession to the Sistine Chapel, where the Conclave is held. Once inside the chapel, each Cardinal elector takes the oath as prescribed in paragraph 53 of Universi Dominici Gregis: Through this oath, they commit, if elected, to faithfully fulfill the Munus Petrinum as Pastor of the Universal Church. Each Cardinal also pledges to maintain absolute secrecy regarding everything related to the election of the Roman Pontiff and to refrain from supporting any attempts of external interference in the election.
After this procession, the Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations proclaims "Extra omnes", meaning that all individuals who are not part of the Conclave must leave the Sistine Chapel. The Master of Ceremonies and the cleric who is going to deliver the second spiritual meditation are the only people who remain that are not part of the Conclave.
The Conclave is held in the Sistine Chapel. All voting is done facing Michelangelo's mural of the Last Judgment. Talk about sub specie aeternitatis !
On his blog, Cardinal Sean O'Malley, Archbishop Emeritus of Boston, who participated in the 2013 Conclave that elected Pope Francis, addressed the issue about whether the real Conclave was anything like the movie. He wrote: "My experience of being in at least one conclave was not that it was some sort of scene of political backroom plotting of how to get your candidate elected."
Rather, he insisted, being in Conclave "was an experience of a very intense retreat where there was much prayer and silence and listening to conferences on spiritual themes." Finally, "For all its artistic and entertainment value, I don’t think the movie is a good portrayal of the spiritual reality of what a conclave is." Let's pray for the Cardinals as they prepare for the Conclave and pray even more fervently once their discernment commences.
When it comes to selecting a new Roman Pontiff, I don't do preferences or predictions. Do I have a preference? Yes. There are three Cardinals who I think would be a good selection to serve as Christ's vicar. I don't mind saying that in addition to being very "pastoral" (an equivocal term if ever there was one), each would, in my view, have the much-needed doctrinal clarity and coherence, which I think is vital for the Church's unity in our present moment.
As far as predictions go however, especially given the size and catholicity of the upcoming Conclave and the concomitant fact that many of the Cardinals don't know each other very well, I think predictions are nothing more than either guesses or expressions of a preference. Whoever emerges as the next Bishop of Rome, I will take it as an expression of divine providence.
When asked directly in a 1997 Bavarian t.v. interview in 1997 if the Holy Spirit selected the pope, then-Cardinal Josef Ratzinger replied:
I would not say so, in the sense that the Holy Spirit picks out the Pope. ... I would say that the Spirit does not exactly take control of the affair, but rather like a good educator, as it were, leaves us much space, much freedom, without entirely abandoning us. Thus the Spirit's role should be understood in a much more elastic sense, not that he dictates the candidate for whom one must vote. Probably the only assurance he offers is that the thing cannot be totally ruined
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